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City of Seattle
Gregory J. Nickels, Mayor
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NEWS ADVISORY
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| SUBJECT: Mayor to Launch Neighborhood Climate Fund at Major Rally
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
4/13/2007 3:00:00 PM |
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Alex Fryer (206) 684-8358
Hazel Bhang Barnett (206) 615-0885
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Mayor to Launch Neighborhood Climate Fund at Major Rally
Popular City Matching Fund Expanded to Help Fight Global Warming
SEATTLE - Mayor Greg Nickels tomorrow will launch the city’s Neighborhood
Climate Protection Fund at a major rally for climate protection. This powerful
new tool promotes neighborhood-based action to fight global warming.
The climate fund is the newest program within the city’s popular Neighborhood
Matching Fund. It will make available matching funds of up to $15,000 per project
for community-based efforts that help cut carbon emissions from heating and
driving or efforts that deepen people’s understanding about global warming
and climate solutions.
“Turning the tides on climate change will require everyone to start
thinking about solutions that cut emissions and improve quality of life in
our city,” Nickels said. “The next great idea is already out there
and this new program will help get the creative juices flowing. It will give
community members the support they need to convert those ideas into real climate
solutions.”
Nickels will announce the new fund at “Step It Up 2007,” a rally
and climate solutions fair to be held at Myrtle Edwards Park from 3:30 p.m.
to 6 p.m. tomorrow, a national day of climate action. The event, one of more
than 1,300 to be held nationally, tomorrow, , will be preceded by a march along
the waterfront from Occidental Park to Myrtle Edwards Park. The march begins
at 2 p.m.
The goal of “Step It Up 2007” is to press Congress for a firm
commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2050, which
the scientific community predicts will stabilize the world’s climate.
Mayor Nickels has made climate protection a priority of his administration.
The city is undertaking the Seattle Climate Action Plan, the most ambitious
environmental initiative in the city’s history. He also launched the
U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement in 1995. To date, 452 cities in every
state and the District of Columbia have signed the pledge to reduce emissions
in line with the Kyoto Protocol.
In January, Nickels led more than 100 signers of the agreement to Capitol
Hill to lobby Congress on serious climate policy, including a commitment to
reduce emissions by 80 percent by 2050.
The next deadline for applying for Neighborhood Climate Protection Fund money
is July 9, 2007. To learn more about program eligibility and how to apply,
call a Neighborhood Matching Fund project manager at 206-684-0464 or visit
the Department of Neighborhoods at www.seattle.gov/neighborhoods/nmf.
For more information on the Mayor’s Climate Action Plan, please visit
www.seattle.gov/climate/
Visit the mayor’s web site at www.seattle.gov/mayor. Get the mayor’s
inside view on efforts to promote transportation, public safety, economic opportunity
and healthy communities by signing up for The Nickels Newsletter at www.seattle.gov/mayor/newsletter_signup.htm
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Office of the Mayor
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